The Dils were an American punk rock band formed 1976 and active until 1980, originally from

Carlsbad, California Carlsbad is a coastal city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is south of downtown Los Angeles and north of downtown San Diego. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. ...

, and fronted by the brothers Chip Kinman and Tony Kinman. They appeared as the second act in the "battle of the bands" sequence in

Cheech and Chong Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo consisting of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. The duo found commercial and cultural success in the 1970s and 1980s with their stand-up routines, studio recordings, and feature films, which were based on the hippie a ...

's film, '' Up In Smoke'', where they can be heard before being seen performing "You're Not Blank".

History

Soon after forming in late 1976, The Dils relocated to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, where they would have a significant influence on that city's embryonic punk scene (bassist Tony Kinman played briefly with The Avengers during 1977), and then Los Angeles, becoming one of the major bands in the early

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

punk scene too. They were known for their conspicuous radical left politics, and for a strong melodic sense that earned them the nickname "punk rock

Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

". Their debut single was "I Hate The Rich" / "You're Not Blank" (the latter covered by the Minneapolis punk band

Dillinger Four Dillinger Four, sometimes abbreviated as D4, is an American punk rock band formed in 1994 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have released four full-length studio albums. Since 1996, the band's lineup has been Patrick Costello on bass guitar and ...

), on Los Angeles-based label What? Records, released in 1977. Their next record was their critical high-point, 1977's "Class War" / "Mr. Big" (the former covered by Canadian punks

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), issued on the Dangerhouse label, in a pressing of 1500 copies entitled "198 Seconds Of The Dils". The last contemporary release was a three-sided double-7" in 1980, "Made In Canada", produced by Bob Rock, which showed a gathering

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

orientation. The Dils opened for

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

in 1980 and later that year the band dissolved after playing a final show with Black Flag. Music from The Dils (including material unreleased during the band's lifetime) remains available.

Possible Visual Influence

A 2021 article in ''Guitar World'' magazine discussed the possible linkage between Dils guitarist Chip Kinman's decoration of his instrument and the famous

Frankenstrat The Frankenstrat, also known as "Frankie", is a guitar created by Eddie Van Halen. Its name is a portmanteau of Frankenstein, the fictional doctor who created a monster by combining body parts of the recently deceased, and the Stratocaster, ...

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Post-breakup

The Kinmans continued to follow the

direction, giving birth to the new "

cowpunk Cowpunk (or country punk) is a subgenre of punk rock that began in the United Kingdom and Southern California in the late 1970s - early 1980s. It combines punk rock or New wave music, new wave with country music, country, folk music, folk, and b ...

" genre with their band

Rank and File Rank and file may refer to: *A military term relating to the horizontal "ranks" (rows) and vertical "files" (columns) of individual foot-soldiers, exclusive of the officers *A term derived from the above used to refer to enlisted troops, as oppose ...

in the 1980s, along with

Alejandro Escovedo Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, including punk ...

,. After a move in a different direction with a rock guitar and drum-machine noise project, Blackbird, they then cast a spotlight on "cowboy music" with

Cowboy Nation A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2016, the Kinman brothers reunited for Chip's new band, Ford Madox Ford. Released by Porterhouse records, Ford Madox Ford's debut album, ''This American Blues'', featured Chip on vocals and guitar, Dewey Peek (Giuliano Scarfo) on lead guitar, Matt Littell on bass and S. Scott Aguero on drums, and Tony Kinman as producer. Tony Kinman died on May 4, 2018.

Revival

Chip Kinman revived The Dils in 2019, with the first show at The Grand Star Jazz Club in Los Angeles' Chinatown on January 27. The following night, The Dils played at San Diego's Casbah Club. Joining Kinman was his stepson Giuliano Scarfo on drums, plus Brian Melendez on bass and backing vocals.

Discography

*"I Hate The Rich" / "You're Not Blank" 7" (

What? Records What? Records was a short-lived record label started by Word Records and A&M Records, intended to focus on creative and unusual rock and roll records with spiritual messages. In the short time that the label existed, it released albums by Mark ...

1977) **Reissued in 1990 on Gift Of Life Records **Both songs + "What Goes On" (live, prev unreleased) included on V/A LP/CD ''What? Stuff'' (Iloki Records 1990) #"I Hate The Rich" #"You're Not Blank" *"198 Seconds Of The Dils" 7" (

Dangerhouse Records Dangerhouse Records was a Neff, Joseph (August 13, 2013)"(Re)Graded on a Curve: Dangerhouse Records' Compilation, ''Yes L.A.''" ''The Vinyl District''. Retrieved August 21, 2015. punk music record label based in Los Angeles, California Overvie ...

1977) **Side A is available on the V/A LP/CD ''Dangerhouse Volume 1'' and Side B can be found on ''Dangerhouse Volume 2'', both albums on

Frontier Records Frontier Records is an independent record label, started in 1980 in Sun Valley, Los Angeles by Lisa Fancher, a former employee of Bomp! Records and writer of the liner notes for the first album by The Runaways. History Frontier Records first ...

#"Class War" #"Mr.Big" *"Made In Canada" 2x7" (Rogelletti Records 1980) **A re-recording of "Sound of the Rain" appeared on the

album ''Long Gone Dead'' (

Slash Records Slash Records was an American record label originally specializing in local punk rock bands, active from 1978 to 2000. It was notable as one of the first and most successful independent record labels in alternative rock, alternative music, befor ...

) **Three slower songs #"Sound Of The Rain" #"Red Rockers" #"It's Not Worth It." *''Live:Dils'' LP ( Triple X/Iloki Records 1987) *''The Dils Live 1977–1980'' LP (Lost Records, 1990) *''Dils Dils Dils'' LP (

Bacchus Archives Bacchus Archives is a record label that has often released previous unreleased recordings. Some of the recordings it has released, includes recordings by artists such as The Controllers, Evan "Funk" Davies, The Dils, Peter Miller and Bob Thompso ...

1991) (reissued on CD (1992)

Damaged Goods Damaged goods or Damaged Goods may refer to: * Goods that have been damaged, where goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility * A person considered to be less than perfect psychologically, as a result of a traumatic experience ...

) **Side A has the eight studio songs mentioned above on it. **Side B contains live tracks from 1978 and 1979. *''The Last Goodbye (The Dils album), The Last Goodbye'' LP (bootleg 199?) **A live recording from 1980. *''Class War'' LP (Dionysus/Bacchus archives 2000) **Includes the first 7'' and 10 live songs recorded in 1980 previously released on ''The Dils Live 1977–1980'' LP.

Compilation appearances

*''We're Desperate: The L.A. Scene (1976-79)'' (Rhino 1993) - "I Hate The Rich", "Mr. Big"

References

External links

Interview with drummer John Silvers on Acc.umu.se
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dils, The Punk rock groups from California Musical groups from San Francisco People from Carlsbad, California Political music groups Dangerhouse Records artists